Motor-truck for electric-railway cars



('No Model.) I

C. J. VAN DEPOELE. MOTOR TRUCK FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAY CARS.

Patented Se tQ 3 0, 1890.

WITNESSES INVENTOR H 55.33% 2, i 2 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC CHARLES J. VAN nnronnn, or LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

MOTOR-TRUCK FOR ELECTRIC-RAILWAY CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 437,535, dated September 30, 1890.

Original application filed December 4, 1889, Serial No. 332,517. Divided and this application filed April 10, 1890. Serial No.

. r 347,384- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen of the United States, residingat Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Motor-Trucks for Electric-Railway Cars, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This application is a division of a prior application filed December 4,1889, Serial No. 332,517.

My invention relates to improvements in electric-railway trucks. In other applications I have described several different forms of electric-railway-motor truck which, though constructed according to different forms, all show motors pivotally connected to the axle at one end and sustained at their free ends by a connection carried by an auxiliary frame or support connected to or forming part of the frame of the truck. Such forms of truck and motor support, it will be apparent, relate to that style of motor which is connected to and radially movable upon the axle to be driven, the connection between the armatureshaft and said axle being through direct or non-flexible gearing.

According to the present invention various styles of gearing may be employed, since the motor is supported in a position, preferably, equidistant between the car-axles and below the floor of the car. The form of gearing here indicated is of a flexible nature, and it will be apparent that by placing the motor equidistant between the axles a single motor may be geared to both axles, thus simplifying the motor mechanism and at the same time utilizing the tractive capacity of all the carrying-wheels. Any suitable-form of connection maybe employed between the motor and the axles to be driven without departing in any way from the present invention, which relates more to the suspension of the motor with respect to the axles of the carrying- Wheels and the body of the car than to any particular form of power-transmitting device or gear between the armature-shaft of the said-mo tor and the axles to be driven.

The details of the invention will be hereinafter fully pointed out, and referred to in 2 is a side elevation of the truck shown in plan in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a truck resembling that seen in Figs. 1 and 2, but difiering therefrom in minor details of construction, as also in the mechanical connection between the armature-shaft of the motor and the axles. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the truck shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View of the motor-protecting shields.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1 and 2, A A B B are the carrying-wheels of a motortruck, and a b are the axles by which said wheels are connected.

O D indicate the axle-boxes sustained upon the extremities of the axles a b, and upon which the superincumbent portion of the truck-frame and also the car-body is carried. Suitable springs E are interposed between the weight to be carried (the car-body) and the said axle-boxes for the purpose of absorbing vibration and shocksin the Well-understood manner. End frames F F are sustained upon opposite pairs of the springs E,and the car-bodyis placed directly upon the said 'end frames. Vertical rods F extend downward from the end frames F F, preferably through or adjacent to the springs E, and at the lower portions of said rods are secured strong metallic sills G, and the said sills G are furthermore connected with the end frames by braces g g, which may be separate pieces or may be integral with the sills G, as indicated.

The sills G may be additionally braced to the end of the frames F F by dependingbraces f, connected thereto, as indicated in Fig. 2. It will thus be seen that the sills G form the lowest portion of the truck-frame and are sustained in a strong and rigid manner as parts of the truck-frame, and are so arranged that they participate with the body of 5 the vehicle in the cushioning elfect of the springs E.

The sills G extend longitudinally on each side of the truck-frame outside of the carrying-wheels, and longitudinal supports, which may be of timber or metal, (although timber is preferred,') extend between and are securely connected to the said sills, so as to form a strong floor or platform H, upon which a motor, as I, may be safely sustained and geared to either or both of the axles a b, as by linkbelting and sprocket-wheels, as indicated in Fig. 1, or other flexible gearing, or in any desired or convenient manner.

The prominent features of the arrangement include means for sustaining the motor-carrying platform, so that the motor shall be independent of the axles and at the same time be so sustained in an operative position that vibration is prevented, and by means of which also almost any form of motor and gearing may be employed. Amotor so sustained can readily be protected from below and also from the side and ends without being too closely confined. Furthermore, a motor in central position between the wheels is at all times conveniently accessible to the attendant, and

is thereforemuch less liable to injury arising.

form of upwardly-extending sides'or edges startingfrom-the platform H. The shields h h maybe removable or movable or permanently fixed, as preferred. A motor mounted upon the platform H would, as indicated, be protected from below and at each side and would still be entirely accessible in front and rear-in front for inspection of the commutator audits brushes and in the rear for attentionto the gearing. Obviously it would be a comparatively simple matter to remove any important part of a motor so mounted-as, for example, the armature, since the same when freed from its bearings could be withdrawn without removing the rest of the machine. End shields- 71 h are shown in Fig. 5 and indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, the same being arranged to inclose the ends of the platform H, and a top cover could also be readily provided, if desired, thus forming a removable casing of very simple and economical construction.

As shown, the motor-sustaining platform is of timber, which I find well suited to its double purpose-viz., that of supporting the motor and protecting it from below; but other meansmight of course be employed-as, for instance, an open frame for sustaining the motor, protection from beneath being secured by a covering of canvas, sheet metal, or the like... Obviously an open frame might be used without covering of any kind, if preferred.

It will be'obvious that by making the sills G of ample strength the diagonal downwardlyextending braces f may be omitted entirely. Such an arrangement is indicated in Fi 3,

upon the axles a, b.

where the sills G are shown as of angle-iron and of ample size and strength. The method of sustaining the sills-that is, upon the main springs-is, however, the same in all the figures.

As already stated, various different forms of gearing may be employed to connect the armature-shaft of the motor I with the axles of the carrying-wheels of the truck. Since the motor is carried upon a platform which moves with the car-body as distinguished from a support which is sustained or is in direct relation to the axle, it follows that some species of flexible connection must be provided between said armature-shaft and the axles to be driven, in order that said axles may possess the necessary independent range of movement.

ing a motor such as'is shown in said patent. Sprocket-wheels and link-belts also afiordlan extremely simple and convenient connection between the driving, and driven axles where flexibility is desired. Such form of connection is seen in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the armature-shaft v is provided with sprocketwheels J J. The axles ab are also each provided with a sprocket-wheel jj, the relative sizes of which as compared with the sprocketwheels J J will depend upon. the degree or ratio of speed desired in the driving and driven axles. Link-belts J J connect the sprockets on the armatureshaft' and those In Figs. 3 and 41 is shown what I have termed indirect gearing?-that is to say, the

armature-shaft t' is provided with a. pinion i, and said pinion meshes with gear-wheels 71% upon counter-shafts 1' t The countershafts are provided with sprocket-wheels J J from which extend link-belts J J to the sprocket-wheels j j upon the axles to be driven.

In all instances where the supply-current of electric motors is carried alongthe line of way by a single overhead conductor, the return is made through the rails, the current being conducted thereto from the motor or motors through the car-axle, and thence by way of the wheels to the track. Aperipheral contact includes only a Very small surface, and when, as is frequently the case, the tracks are covered with dust or other dry insulating material the resistance of the return-circuitis very greatly increased. I find thatthis difficulty is most effectuallyand economically overcome by providing each motor-truck frame with a number of special track-coniron.

these track-contacts is excessive. I fin'dthat ICC IIO

the cheapest of rough cast-iron will answer the purpose perfectly, and I therefore prefer to employ such material. I employ the contacts as adjuncts to the motor-frame, preferably locating one at each point.

K indicates the contact-blocks, which are desirably connected with the truck-frame each by a link L and arranged to be pressed downwardly upon the track by aspring k. A hookZ is also provided for suspending the blocks not in use. It is preferred that the blocks should always trail so as to avoid damage thereto, and to secure this result the forward blocks should always be sustained upon the hook' I out of contact with the track. When the direction of movement of the car is reversed, the suspended blocks should be unhooked and allowed to come into action as trailing contacts, while the blocks which were previously at the rear of the car should be lifted and their links L placed in and sustained by the hook Z.

A form of contact might be used which would require no reversal-for example, as indicated in Fig. 2. Such an arrangement wouldrequireno attention except to hook the block out of reach of the track when it is not desired to use the same-as, for instance, during a rain or in places where the tracks are always wet or are kept clean by wind or other agency.

It will be understood that the form and arrangement of the truck hereinbe'fore described may be varied considerably without departing from the invention; also, thatthe motor-supporting platform maybe employed in connection with a car-body supported upon a difierent form of springs or in which no springs whatever are employed. Various specific modifications might also be made without departing from the invention.

This application being a division of a prior case, it will be understood that those matters herein shown, but not claimed, continue to form the subject-matter of the said parent case.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The combinatiomwith a spring-supported truck-frame and its axles, of a support or secondary frame secured to the truck-frame and extending between the axles, an electric motor carried wholly by the spring-sustained support or frame, and flexible connections between the motor and one or both of the axles.

2. The combination,with a spring-supported frame and its axles, of a platform secured to said frame and extending between the truckaxles, an electric motor sustained upon the platform, and flexible driving-connections be tween the motor and one or both of the axles of the truck.

3. The combination of a spring-supported car or truck frame and its axles,a frame sustained by thecar-springs and extending longitudinally between the said axles, a transverse platform between said axles and sus tained upon the longitudinal frame, an electric motor carried upon the platform, and driving-connections between the said motor and one or both of said axles.

4. The combination of a spring-supported car or truck frame and its axles, a longitudinal frame extending between said axles and connected to the spring-supported parts of the frame, transverse supports between the car-axle and resting at their ends upon the longitudinal frame, an electric motor sustained upon the transverse support and independent of the said axles, and driving-connections between the moving parts of the motorand one or both of said axles.

5. The combination, with the axles and carrying-wheels of a car-truck, of a truck-frame supporting the car body, springs between the said axles and the parts supporting the carbody, a secondary frame below the car-axles and extending longitudinally between the same, connections between the spring-supported parts of the truck and the secondary frame, whereby said last-mentioned frame is suspended therefrom, transverse supports be tween the longitudinal parts of the secondary frame, a motor thereon, and driving-connections between the said motor and one or both of the axles.

6. The combination, with a motor-truck the wheels of which make rolling contact with the track, of one or more auxiliary track-contacts, pivotal and electrical connections between the contact and the frame of the truck, means for holding said contact in engagement with the rails of the track, and means for sustaining said contact devices in a position out of reach of the track-rails when not in use.

7. The combination, with the truck-frame and its axles, of a platform carried by'said frame and extending between the axles and provided with side shields, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a truck-frame and its axles, of a platform carried by said frame and extending between the axles and provided with movable end shields, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a truck-frame and its axles, of a platform carried by said frame and extending between the axles, said platform being provided with movable side and end shields, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE.

Witnesses:

FRANKLAND JANNUs, STEPHEN J ANNUS. 

